CAT
Caterpillar Inc.
CAT has the edge over VSTS overall, supported by stronger modeled upside and stronger fundamentals.
VSTS
Vestis Corporation
VSTS offers stronger valuation, but that advantage does not outweigh its weaker overall profile.
CAT Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Healthy | |
| Strong | |
| Strong | |
| Strong |
CAT's revenue, profitability, cash flow and balance sheet are all currently healthy.
VSTS Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Stable | |
| Stable | |
| Stable | |
| Weak |
VSTS's revenue, profitability and cash flow are currently stable, but its balance sheet is weak.
CAT PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheap | 15x | $380 | -37% |
| Fair | 18x | $461 | -24% |
| Forward | 20x | $605 | — |
| Current | 24x | $605 | — |
| Expensive | 33x | $840 | +39% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
CAT's PE is in its expensive range at 24x. If earnings grow as analysts expect, today's price would be 20x next year's earnings, in its fair range.
VSTS PE Valuation
VSTS has no meaningful PE right now: it lost money over the past year.
CAT Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Improving | |
| Strong growth | |
| Growth | |
| Improving | |
| Moderate | |
| Low |
CAT has the edge over VSTS on the outlook, with more favorable revenue expectations.
VSTS Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| -- | |
| Strong growth | |
| Stable | |
| Strongly improving | |
| Limited | |
| Low |
Analysts expect VSTS's earnings to grow and its profitability to improve, with its revenue holding steady. However, they disagree widely on these estimates.
CAT Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $29.73 | +17% |
| Q3 2026 | $25.48 | +31% |
| Q2 2026 | $23.23 | +18% |
| Q1 2026 | $20.08 | -2% |
| Q4 2025 | $18.81 | -15% |
| Q3 2025 | $19.46 | -9.7% |
| Q2 2025 | $19.64 | -10% |
| Q1 2025 | $20.50 | -7.4% |
| Q4 2024 | $22.05 | +9.6% |
CAT has the edge over VSTS on earnings quality, reporting a profit while its opponent remains loss making.
VSTS Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $0.77 | — |
| Q2 2026 | -$0.05 | +$0.18 |
| Q1 2026 | -$0.14 | +$0.04 |
| Q4 2025 | -$0.37 | -563% |
| Q3 2025 | -$0.31 | -294% |
| Q2 2025 | -$0.23 | -126% |
| Q2 2024 | $0.90 | +291% |
VSTS lost $0.05 per share over the past year, a smaller loss than the year before.
CAT Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $20.7B | +17% |
| Q2 2026 | $20.5B | +24% |
| Q1 2026 | $17.4B | +22% |
| Q4 2025 | $19.1B | +18% |
| Q3 2025 | $17.6B | +9.5% |
| Q2 2025 | $16.6B | -0.7% |
| Q1 2025 | $14.2B | -9.8% |
| Q4 2024 | $16.2B | -5% |
CAT has the edge over VSTS on sales, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 20% | +3.1 points |
| Q2 2026 | 21% | +3.6 points |
| Q1 2026 | 18% | -0.4 points |
| Q4 2025 | 14% | -4.1 points |
| Q3 2025 | 17% | -2.2 points |
| Q2 2025 | 17% | -3.6 points |
| Q1 2025 | 18% | -4.2 points |
| Q4 2024 | 18% | -0.3 points |
CAT has the edge over VSTS on profitability, with a higher operating margin.
VSTS Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | $661.7M | -1.8% |
| Q1 2026 | $659.4M | -0.9% |
| Q4 2025 | $663.4M | -3% |
| Q3 2025 | $712M | +4.1% |
| Q2 2025 | $673.8M | -3.5% |
| Q1 2025 | $665.2M | -5.7% |
| Q4 2024 | $683.8M | -4.8% |
| Q3 2024 | $684.3M | -4.4% |
VSTS's revenue has held roughly level: $662M last quarter, down 1.8% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | 5.6% | +1.9 points |
| Q1 2026 | 4.1% | +5.3 points |
| Q4 2025 | 2.5% | -2 points |
| Q3 2025 | 2.5% | -1.9 points |
| Q2 2025 | 3.7% | -1.7 points |
| Q1 2025 | -1.3% | -7.4 points |
| Q4 2024 | 4.5% | -2.2 points |
| Q3 2024 | 4.3% | -4.1 points |
VSTS's operating margin was 5.6% last quarter, up 1.9 points from the same quarter a year ago.
CAT Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $3.7B | +19% |
| Q2 2026 | $3.8B | +47% |
| Q1 2026 | $1.1B | +97% |
| Q4 2025 | $2.7B | +0.1% |
| Q3 2025 | $3.1B | -1.5% |
| Q2 2025 | $2.6B | -4.2% |
| Q1 2025 | $579M | -63% |
| Q4 2024 | $2.7B | -22% |
CAT generated $11.3B in free cash flow over the past year, up 26% from the year before.
VSTS Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | $47M | +487% |
| Q1 2026 | $45.6M | +$52.4M |
| Q4 2025 | $28.3M | +$39.3M |
| Q3 2025 | $15.6M | -94% |
| Q2 2025 | $8M | -71% |
| Q1 2025 | -$6.9M | -111% |
| Q4 2024 | -$11M | -132% |
| Q3 2024 | $267.5M | +205% |
VSTS still generates free cash flow, though less than at its 2024 peak: $136M over the past year.
CAT Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | -0.3% | -1.6M shares |
| 1 year | -2.1% | -9.9M shares |
| 3 years | -10% | -51.7M shares |
| 5 years | -16% | -86.7M shares |
| Available history | -19% | -107M shares |
CAT has the edge over VSTS on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $1.2B |
| Q2 2026 | $1.5B |
| Q1 2026 | $5B |
| Q4 2025 | $340M |
| Q3 2025 | $362M |
| Q2 2025 | $828M |
| Q1 2025 | $3.7B |
| Q4 2024 | $640M |
CAT spent $8.1B buying back its own shares over the past year, up 47% from the year before.
VSTS Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | +1% | +1.3M shares |
| 1 year | +1.9% | +2.5M shares |
| 3 years | +2.7% | +3.5M shares |
VSTS has 134M diluted shares, up 1.9% from a year ago.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2023 | — |
| Q2 2023 | — |
| Q1 2023 | — |
| Q4 2022 | — |
| Q3 2022 | — |
| Q2 2022 | — |
| Q1 2022 | — |
| Q4 2021 | — |
CAT Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -0.5x | Net Cash |
| Q2 2026 | -0.4x | Net Cash |
| Q1 2026 | -0.3x | Net Cash |
| Q4 2025 | 2.0x | Healthy |
| Q3 2025 | -0.6x | Net Cash |
| Q2 2025 | -0.4x | Net Cash |
| Q1 2025 | -0.3x | Net Cash |
| Q4 2024 | 1.6x | Healthy |
CAT has the edge over VSTS on leverage, with a lower net debt burden relative to earnings.
VSTS Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | 4.4x | High |
| Q1 2026 | 4.7x | High |
| Q4 2025 | 5.8x | High |
| Q3 2025 | 5.4x | High |
| Q2 2025 | 5.2x | High |
| Q1 2025 | 4.9x | High |
| Q4 2024 | 3.9x | Elevated |
| Q3 2024 | 3.7x | Elevated |
VSTS's net debt is about 4.4 years of its operating earnings (EBITDA), down from 5.2 years a year ago.
CAT Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 32.7 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 6.7 | Oversold |
CAT's weekly RSI is 33 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 7 (oversold).
VSTS Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 58.3 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 66.5 | Neutral |
VSTS's weekly RSI is 58 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 67 (neutral).
CAT PE vs Industrials Sector
| Metric | CAT | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 24x | 24x | 1.1% below |
| PE % | 69 | 58 | 11 pts above |
CAT is trading at 24x earnings, in line with the Industrials sector's median of 24x.
VSTS PE vs Industrials Sector
| Metric | VSTS | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | N/A | 24x | — |
VSTS has no meaningful PE right now: it lost money over the past year.
CAT Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $709.0 | 15% below |
| 20 week MA | $797.0 | 24% below |
| 50 week MA | $771.3 | 22% below |
| 100 week MA | $586.7 | 3.2% above |
| 200 week MA | $443.1 | 37% above |
VSTS has stronger trend alignment. CAT is above 2 of 5 weekly averages versus VSTS above 3 of 4.
VSTS Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $14.2 | 0.1% below |
| 20 week MA | $14.1 | 0.7% above |
| 50 week MA | $11.0 | 29% above |
| 100 week MA | $9.58 | 48% above |
VSTS's trend is up, with a small recent dip: it's below only its 8-week average, and 48% above its 100-week average.
CAT Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $148.3 | $179.6 | +21% |
| 2021 | $179.6 | $206.2 | +15% |
| 2022 | $206.2 | $239.9 | +16% |
| 2023 | $239.9 | $295.7 | +23% |
| 2024 | $295.7 | $364.9 | +23% |
| 2025 | $364.9 | $583.0 | +60% |
| 2026 YTD | $583.0 | $605.3 | +3.8% |
CAT has finished every year since 2020 higher, and it's up 3.8% so far in 2026.
VSTS Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | $19.3 | $21.1 | +9.5% |
| 2024 | $21.1 | $15.4 | -27% |
| 2025 | $15.4 | $6.55 | -57% |
| 2026 YTD | $6.55 | $14.2 | +117% |
VSTS has the edge over CAT on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.